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Quiet Saturday in the kitchen

How was your Saturday? Mine was fairly uneventful, spent mostly running errands and meeting a friend at Starbucks for writing time.

Immediately upon waking up, I hit the treadmill for W3D2 of C25K. (Okay, it wasn’t quite immediate. I lazed in bed, checking email and Twitter for about 15 minutes after my alarm went off.)

The workout went as well as can be expected. I sweated buckets and those 3-minute run intervals still seemed to take for-ever. I bumped up the speed on my walk/run intervals (to 3.7/3.8 and 4.1) and racked up mile 1 at the 15:53 mark. (Last time, I finished my first mile sometime after 16.)

2.5 miles in 41 minutes total (28 of them official C25K). 300 calories burned and 126 vertical feet conquered.

Mile 2 was complete just before 32 minutes — after the end of the C25K portion. I kept walking for an extra 15 or so minutes because every time I hit a milestone (a new lap or certain number of calories burned), I was in the middle of a song. And when the next song came on, it was one I didn’t want to miss.

Guess it’s time for me to sit down with iTunes and create a timed playlist for C25K workouts, eh? Or maybe it’s better that I don’t. I end up doing more this way.

My errands included stops at the health food store, Walmart and Safeway. I went to New Frontiers first, specifically to pick up my unsweetened almond and coconut milks. Turns out I could have gotten the almond milk $1 cheaper at Walmart. I didn’t even know Walmart sold unsweetened almond milk. I’ll have to remember that for next time.

After writing time, I hit the grocery store. I’d picked up most of the items on my list, but needed produce and meat. Found a great deal on pork chops — 4-plus pounds for a little more than $7. Tomorrow’s dinner suddenly changed ethnicity. (It went from a Crock Pot full of Italian beef to pork/green chile stew.)

When I got home, it was time to make dinner.

This:

Chunks of rice and shredded cauliflower

Became this:

Curry with Cauliflower Rice Pilaf

It tastes better than it looks. Trust me. The recipe called for chicken, but I used pork instead. It is “the other white meat,” after all. I’m glad it turned out well, since I have three more servings. I left one in the fridge and put two in the freezer for dinners on work nights.

After dinner, I ran out to the mall to use a Cost Plus World Market coupon. You can never have too many sugar-free flavored syrups. 😉 On the way back home, I was seized with a craving for cake. But I couldn’t just stop at the store and buy a slice, the way I used to do.

Luckily, I remembered the Molten Chocolate Cake recipe from the Atkins website. I made it last summer and knew it’d hit the sweet spot for very few carbs.

The only problem? With all the ingredients that need to come to “room temperature,” it’s not a quick fix. I got home from the mall at about 9 p.m., and didn’t sit down with my cake until 11.

Delicious topped with a few berries and homemade whipped cream.

It was worth the wait, though: Rich, chocolatey and delicious. Even better, the recipe made two, so I have another one for later in the week (probably Monday).

After enjoying my cake, I decided another short walk on the treadmill wouldn’t hurt. Treadmill at midnight? Don’t mind if I do. I can’t disturb anyone when I’m the only one at home, right?

This time, I tried the ifit.com personal trainer workout preloaded on the treadmill. At first, it was a little strange/annoying to have Jillian Michaels talking to me while I was walking. But it was kind of nice, too — made me feel a little like I was on “The Biggest Loser.” Of course, the contestants on that show would have been running until they barfed instead of walking at a max speed of 2.6 mph. 😉

Now I’m watching a very old episode of “Law and Order.” Chris Noth looks so young. In contrast, they’re showing an ad for the new “Dallas” and JR and Bobby look ancient. The new blood next generation is hot, though. It’s enough to make me want to sing “Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy.”

Sorry. That was one of the songs I listened to during my workout Saturday. What can I say? My iPod has a strange, strange mix of music.

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Losing weight is easy …

... if you're in a coma, maybe. Most of us have to work at it — every day and every minute. It's not easy to make the right choices, to drink water instead of (diet) soda, pick the grilled chicken sandwich instead of a burger or choose to get up and get moving instead of lounging around in bed. After spening too long making the wrong choices, I've re-committed to a low-carb lifestyle. My choices may no longer be Weight Watchers- or Whole30- or paleo-approved, but the concept is the same: I'm still getting closer to my goal weight one choice at a time.

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Disclaimer

Please note that I’m not a doctor, registered dietitian or fitness expert. I'm merely sharing my experiences with weight loss, cooking and life. This is what works for me—or sometimes doesn't. That doesn't mean it will/won't work for you. When it comes to your health and fitness, do your research. Everybody is different.